“O My Son Absalom”

¹David organized the troops who were with him, appointing commanders over groups of 1,000 and commanders over groups of 100. ²He then divided the army into 3 divisions: one third under Joab's command, one third under Joab's brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and one third under Ittai the Gittite. The king told the troops, "I'm going to march out with you myself." ³But the troops objected, saying, "You must not come with us. If we have to retreat, the enemy won't care about us. Even if half of us die, they won't care. But you are worth 10,000 of us. It is better for you to help us from the city." ⁴The king replied, "I'll do whatever you think is best." So he stood beside the gate as all the troops marched out in units of hundreds and thousands. ⁵Then the king gave an order to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: "For my sake, be gentle with the young man Absalom." Every soldier heard the king give this command to all the commanders about Absalom. ⁶The army marched out into the open country to fight against Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. ⁷David's forces crushed the army of Israel there, and the slaughter that day was enormous — 20,000 men fell. ⁸The battle spread across the entire countryside, and the forest claimed more lives that day than the sword did. ⁹Absalom suddenly ran into a group of David's soldiers. He was riding his mule, and as the mule passed under the thick branches of a massive oak tree, Absalom's head got caught in the branches. He was left dangling between heaven and earth as the mule kept going without him. ¹⁰One of the soldiers saw this and reported it to Joab: "I just saw Absalom hanging from an oak tree!" ¹¹Joab snapped at the man, "You saw him? Why didn't you strike him down right there? I would have given you 10 shekels of silver and a belt!" ¹²But the man replied to Joab, "Even if you gave me a thousand shekels of silver, I would not raise my hand against the king's son. We all heard the king command you, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, 'Beware that none touch the young man Absalom.'" ¹³Otherwise, I would have acted falsely against my own life, because nothing is hidden from the king, and you yourself would have set yourself against me. ¹⁴Joab said, "I'm not going to waste any more time with you." He grabbed 3 spears and drove them into Absalom's heart while Absalom was still alive, hanging in the oak tree. ¹⁵Then 10 of Joab's armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him, and finished him off. ¹⁶Joab sounded the trumpet, and the troops stopped chasing the Israelites, because Joab called them back. ¹⁷They took Absalom's body, threw it into a deep pit in the forest, and piled a huge mound of stones over it. Meanwhile, every Israelite fled to his own tent. ¹⁸During his lifetime, Absalom had set up a stone pillar for himself in the King's Valley, because he said, "I have no son to carry on my name." He named the pillar after himself, and to this day it's still called Absalom's Monument. ¹⁹Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, "Let me run and bring the king the news that the LORD has delivered him from his enemies!" ²⁰But Joab told him, "You're not the one to carry the news today. You can carry news some other time, but not today — the king's son is dead." ²¹Then Joab turned to a Cushite messenger and said, "Go tell the king what you've seen." The Cushite bowed to Joab and took off running. ²²But Ahimaaz pressed Joab again: "No matter what happens, please let me run after the Cushite." Joab said, "Why do you want to run, my son? You don't even have any real news to deliver." ²³"I don't care," Ahimaaz said. "Let me run." So Joab told him, "Then run!" Ahimaaz took the route through the Jordan plain and outran the Cushite. ²⁴David was sitting between the inner and outer gates of the city. The watchman had climbed to the roof above the gate, up on the wall. He looked up and saw a man running alone. ²⁵The watchman called down and told the king. David said, "If he's alone, he's bringing news." The runner kept getting closer. ²⁶Then the watchman spotted a second man running. He called down to the gatekeeper, "There's another man running alone!" The king said, "He must be bringing news too." ²⁷The watchman said, "The first runner looks like Ahimaaz son of Zadok, based on the way he runs." The king said, "He's a good man — he must be coming with good news." ²⁸Ahimaaz called out as he approached, "All is well!" He bowed facedown before the king and said, "Praise the LORD your God! He has handed over the men who raised their hands against my lord the king!" ²⁹The king asked, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" Ahimaaz answered, "When Joab sent me, I saw some kind of big commotion, but I don't know what it was about." ³⁰The king said, "Step aside and wait here." So Ahimaaz moved aside and stood there. ³¹Then the Cushite arrived and said, "I have news for my lord the king! The LORD has avenged you today against all those who rose up against you!" ³²The king asked the Cushite, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" The Cushite answered, "May all the enemies of my lord the king — and everyone who rises up to harm you — end up like that young man." ³³The king was deeply moved. He went up to the room above the gate and wept. As he walked, he cried out, "O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you — O Absalom, my son, my son!"